Margao: BJP on Wednesday held a secret ballot exercise at the Party District Office in Margao to measure the popularity of prospective candidates before completing the nomination for the South Goa constituency.
Similar exercises were carried out for the constituency of North Goa in Panaji on Tuesday.
The ballot was carried out by the presence of the CM Pramod Sawant, Minister of Union G Kiswan Reddy, BJP National Secretary responsible for Goa, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, C T Ravi, Secretary General of the Party (Organization) of Satish Dhond, and others.
This exercise was conducted for four to five South Goa constituencies, including Margao, Quepem and Canacona, party sources that benefited to the meeting to Ti.
The party’s mandal carrier from all the South Goa constituents attended the meeting.
The ballot was assuming the significance because BJP faced the threat of a rebellion in several South Goa constituencies after the ticket was announced.
Candidates who fail to get tickets tend to work against party candidates or contests as independent candidates such as political observers say it, “BJP leadership faces a tremendous trust deficit between its cadres”.
“The results of a secret ballot,” said political observer, “will function as justification for the refusal of tickets to those who are rejected by the party.” In Margao, although BJP focused on the Deputy Ministerial Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar after Jagannath ‘Dish’ Prabhudessi resigned from Fray which quoted factionalism in the party, BJP was worried about the receipt of Pernem MLA among the top caste voters in Margao.
The city is always represented by a Brahmana Saraswat in the Assembly.
In Canacona, Incumbent Mla Isidore Fernandes, who defected BJP from Congress in 2019, and former Minister of Ramesh Tawadkar, was a strong competitor for BJP tickets.
In Quepem, even though Deputy Minister of Chief Chandrakan ‘Kavlekar’ Babu ‘seems to be in a safe zone, his wife Savitri is a strong competitor for party tickets in the constituency of Sanguem adjacent along with former MLA Subhash Phal Dessai.
Sawant told reporters that the meeting of the party parliamentary council would be held on January 16 in Delhi to complete the candidate.
Sawant, and BJP President Sadanand Tanavade, will attend the meeting.
“The names selected in most constituencies have gone to party leadership, rest will be sent immediately.
The list will be declared after the meeting,” Sawant said.